beat back
verb
beat back; beaten back or beat back; beating back; beats back
: to force (someone) to go back or to retreat by fighting
Our troops were beaten back by enemy forces.
Police used batons to beat the protesters back.
Examples of beat back in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In 2023, the councilmember decisively beat back a recall attempt funded by Santa Ana’s police union and apartment owners who didn’t like her unabashedly progressive views in a city where centrist Democrats have dominated politics for decades and lefty ones were long ostracized.
—
Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026
Videos on social media show officers in riot gear deploying tear gas and using batons to beat back the demonstrators.
—ABC News, 6 June 2026
My plan is to beat back any skepticism and try to soak it all in.
—Michael Silver, New York Times, 21 May 2026
Set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, season 1 unfolds in a galaxy where the Empire has been largely beaten back — and the former Rebellion is trying to establish a New Republic.
—Chris Snellgrove, Entertainment Weekly, 21 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for beat back
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Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026
Videos on social media show officers in riot gear deploying tear gas and using batons to beat back the demonstrators.
—ABC News, 6 June 2026
My plan is to beat back any skepticism and try to soak it all in.
—Michael Silver, New York Times, 21 May 2026
Set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, season 1 unfolds in a galaxy where the Empire has been largely beaten back — and the former Rebellion is trying to establish a New Republic.
—Chris Snellgrove, Entertainment Weekly, 21 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for beat back
Cite this Entry
“Beat back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beat%20back. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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